A second chance
by Alchemic Aurelius
Summary: What if the Other Vayne didn't disappear during Heart's Prison's? Instead his memories were sent back to his past self before Vayne's enrollment to Al-Revis and thus giving him the means to avoid everything that's happened. As well as a second chance at life...
1. The End's new Beginning

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Mana Khemia. Only the plot is my own.**

* * *

_Everyone was gathered in the Illusionary path of Hearts Prison. The alchemic circles floated underneath the fake ground and in the center of the room. _

_As they walked towards the middle, everyone stopped when a soft glow of light collected in the middle. When it faded, an exact replica of Vayne was levitating in place. "You're late. I was getting worried that you might not come."_

_ He walked towards his doppelganger slowly. "As I thought… You were here." The copy looked over to the others and raised an eyebrow._

"But, why'd you bring all this company? I was about to grant your wish." Vayne narrowed his eyes and looked down. "…I didn't wish for something like this."

_ "No, I'm pretty sure that you did." The other snickered in amusement. "I just…just…" He trailed off, tears collecting in his eyes. "Wanted to be alone?" His eyes closed as his smile widened. "…" Vayne only stood in place as the other floated closer. _

_"Who is this person? Why does he look so mean?" Pamela held her teddy close to her as she spoke. "Well, he does have Vayne's face…" Anna commented. The ghost girl shook her head and frowned at the young swords master._

_ "I'm talking about his aura… his mood." Flay crossed his arms and glowered. "I don't have any evidence, but I assume he's an enemy." Nikki bared her teeth at him and declared. "If we can beat him, this should all go away."_

_Vayne could only watch as they all discussed what to do. "Everyone..." His copy floated a bit closer and tilted his head much like a child would. "Don't you feel better now? ...And you wanted to be alone?"_

_"No, what I…" Vayne was denying what h_is other half said.

_"Your power is very honest. It will bend reality around your wish. __You thought that you wanted to disappear from this world, alone. But… __Deep down, you wished to disappear with the school. …With everybody else."_

The rest of the conversation was forgotten as Vayne finally relinquished control to his other self. The battle was close, each side drew closer to victory, though despite having immense power Vayne was defeated.

_After the battle, Other Vayne frowned and groaned slightly. "I'm surprised. I thought I... this power was absolute... Oh, I see... If that's the case... I guess that's fine, too.." He reemerged with Vayne, who collapsed to the floor. _

_When he came to his senses, Vayne tried to convince everyone to leave the collapsing dimension. Once they all left he fell to his knees and laughed bitterly. _

_The voice of his other self rang out with a slight laugh. "Pretty tough, aren't you? But, you can barely stand." Vayne only smiled and said. "Yeah... But I didn't hurt them..." _

_His other couldn't help but let a sigh. "I thought it was impossible to stop our power. A change of heart at the last minute? That's playing dirty." _

_Vayne shook his head and frowned, he was beginning to have trouble staying up. "The only reason I wanted to disappear... was so I couldn't hurt anyone... But I nearly hurt the ones I care for most..." _

_He straightened up as much as he could. "Now I can wish with the bottom of my heart. W_ith this space, I wish to..." The other's voice cut him off before he could finish his speech.__

_"You don't have to say it. I already know. All you need to do is wish. You have the power to make it true." His face fell as he spoke. "Though there isn't much of it left." _

_Vayne shook his head and smiled. "That's alright. This is the last time anyway..." His eyes widened when he realized what that meant for his Other self. "Sorry." _

_Other smiled one more time. "It's kinda strange getting an apology from myself. Well it's time..."_

_-O-_

_Vayne was sleeping in the old mansion that he called home when he had the strangest dream. He dreamed of a time in the future. Dreamt of a group of friends, shocking revelations, and a great sacrifice. _

_Waking up with a start, he glanced around hopefully; nothing was there, no sign of the ones in his dream. An amused chuckle rang through his head. _

_"I'm surprised. I thought you'd remember much later. And yes it was real Vayne, all of it." Suddenly he was in a place filled unending darkness. Standing in front of him was another him? "W-who are you? And where are we?" _

_The other ran a hand through his hair and began laughing. "I stand corrected, it seems you don't remember. And to answer your questions, I am you and we're in your mind." _

_Vayne looked around in awe."In… my mind? W-Wait! How could you be me if I'm right here?" _

_The other had an amused look on his face. "It's easier to just show you."_

_He went up to his confused other and did something completely unexpected. He hugged him._

_As soon as he was firmly in the embrace, Vayne began to remember. He remembered everything and everyone. Flay, Nikki, Jess, Roxis… Everyone he meet, fought against and along side with, the days of work and play, and the end..._

_Vayne stared at the other, shock evident in his eyes. _

_The other released him and smiled. "Now do you understand? This is a chance to start again, of course with some differences. You'll be aware of the upcoming danger and the truth of what you are."_

_"What I am... But because of me, all of that happened... Isolde killing my friend, that Mana escaping from the crystal, dad..." Vayne  
_

_"None of that was your fault. You merely did what you were ordered to do in the case of father. Isolde is a vengeful woman and always will be. As for Zweis Monde that was more on my part then yours, it was hard to listen to the sorrowful voices of the mana trapped in the crystals and not let our instincts take over..." He smiled wistfully at his other self.  
_

_Vayne frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "Still, I don't want this power and if I try to wish it away you'll end up disappearing..."  
_

_"Understandable, but you are the harness on this power and without you it will go out of control..." Other Vayne sighed in resignation.  
_

_"I see... What about if you had your own body?" Vayne suggested. _

_He laughed softly and shook his head. "As nice as that sounds, I doubt that could happen..." _

_Surprisingly, Vayne began laughing. "Though I thought you said if I wish it then it will come true?"_

_"...What a dirty move, using my own words against me..." Despite his tone, he was smiling softly to himself. "Well then go ahead..."  
_

_-O-_

Both Vayne and Vain stood in front of the entrance of Al-Revis academy, both excitement and nervousness filled the air.

Vain turned to his "twin" and smiled widely. "This is it, this is our second chance..."


	2. Fake names and Boring Speeches

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Mana Khemia. Only the plot is my own.**

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It was a rainy day on the mountain side, inside the old manor a thought came to Vain's mind. "You know, we can't say we're the same person anymore. That would be pretty odd."

Vayne blinked and raised an eyebrow at him. While that was a good point, he wondered what caused him to even think of that. "Well what so you think we should say?"

"That we're brothers, what else? Anyway we have about 2 weeks before Zeppel comes to get you, let's try to get a bit of training done before then." He's going to need to get use to this new physical form. There are a lot more restrictions on his power now, but it's worth being able to actually live as an individual. This was a strange, but nice feeling.

Vayne couldn't help but groan in frustration. "Ugh, again? We already did some yesterday..."

"Don't complain, you could use the practice too you know. I don't want you to be so weak you can't beat up a group of puni." Vain teasingly said, poking Vayne's cheek as he spoke. So far it's been pretty fun to mess with his so called twin.

"Whatever... Wait, wasn't I only invited because of who dad was? I mean they knew I couldn't remember anything then so they didn't question it."

Rolling his eyes, Vain sighed. "Just make up some sob story to get him to let us both come. If all else fails I sneak in with you and disguise myself."

"But..."

He held up a hand. "No arguments, we're both going to Al-Revis whether you want to or not."

The teen sighed and nodded. "Ok but what about a new name?"

"I was thinking Ein Cross would be a good name." He had it in mind for a long time now.

He answered that way to quickly to be normal. "Ok we have that figured out, now for a disguise."

Vain began concentrating his power and turned his hair black. "So how do I look?" He gestured to his now black hair.

"You look like a young Miss Isolde but as a guy..." It was honestly rather creepy.

"Really?" He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them up, both are now a deep red. "Better?"

"Much." He let out a is of relief, seriously he looked so much like his future teacher would as a teenaged boy.

"Great but we still have to work on who you are and your back story. I was thinking maybe an orphan from across the mountains that you saved from the Winter cold and we've been living with each other ever since?"

"Yeah I think that may work, that way I can pretend I can't remember anything about dad... Er won't constantly using the power in order to keep your appearance like this hurt you?"

"Nah, it's not using much of anything. Come on Vaynie, if I have the power to revive the dead then I can do something as simple as changing my appearance~"

"Don't call me that... Anyway let's collect the firewood to cook dinner before it's too late."

-o-

Vain let out a sigh of relief as he finally left the main hall after the principal's speech. He looked around and as that Vayne wasn't anywhere to be found, oh well he might as well do some exploring of his own before the first classes of the year began. "Where to go first..." He wandered off in search of adventure.

Back inside, Vayne and Sulpher were in the middle of the close to empty empty auditorium. The young man looked around a bit before sighing. "It looks like he left us, Sulpher..."

"Hey, you're in the way. Move it." Cornelia stated rudely.

He blinked and moved out of the way. "Oh, uh, sorry."

"What a bitch…" Sulpher meowed. Honestly she could have just walked around him, it's not like there was anyone else there.

"Yeah, but, we were kinda standing in her way…" Vayne sighed.

Meanwhile, Vain was looking around the school for something interesting to do when he saw Flay in the distance. Of course he wouldn't know him yet but it couldn't hurt to go check out what the "Defender of Justice" was doing. He followed behind from a safe distance and began spying on Flay.

The redhead was trying to find potential recruited for his workshop but wasn't having any success with finding anyone who was willing to join him.

Vain followed for a good while after until he heard the bells for the introduction classes starting.

He was rushing towards his homeroom, ignoring the shouts from the annoyed prefects he passed by "Damn I'm late for class and on the first day."

When he got to the door to his classroom, he took a moment to compose himself before walking in. "I'm sorry about being late, I was on the other side of the campus when classes began."

Zeppel blinked and smiled cheerfully at him. "It's fine Ein, I just was just about to get started. Why don't you take a seat and we can begin."

He nodded and went up to the row where Vayne and Jess were sitting.

"As I was saying. My name is Zeppel Kriever, your homeroom teacher. It's nice to meet you all."

"Nice to meet you, too!" The whole room chorused back.

He chuckled and nodded. "It can be difficult at times, so please come talk to me if you need help. If I'm not too busy, I'll be happy to discuss anything with you. Now, I'm sure you're all tired, so today's intro will be quick and simple. That's it for today! Classes start tomorrow, so don't be late."

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**Authors Notes: I wasn't planning on this to be finished so late but here it is. But anyway thank you all for reviewing and such.**


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